The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological needs of tourists: implications for the travel and tourism industry

This study aims to explore the psychological needs and satisfaction of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists across three phases (i.e. before, during and perceived aftermath) of the COVID-19 pandemic. It fulfilled the theoretical extension of the Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG) theory to identify the basic psychological needs of the tourists in a pandemic situation. In-depth interviews, findings confirmed ERG processes of Satisfaction-Progression, Frustration-Regression, and Simple-Frustration. Nevertheless, the predominant psychological needs of tourists were different in each phase. The study contributes to a better understanding of post-pandemic needs of the tourists and is useful in redesigning travel experiences.